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SurePayroll is reporting that hiring at Houston small businesses is flat for the first eight months of the year. That compares to a 3% drop nationwide.

The online payroll services firm also says that pay at Houston small businesses is up about 3% since January. That’s against a slight drop in pay for the U.S. as a whole.

SurePayroll president Michael Alter.

“When the pay is going up but the workforce is staying stagnant, what you’re seeing is people have rebounded a little bit and they’ve had enough strength and stability in their businesses that they’re [sic.] increased the hours that their existing workers are working. That’s a positive sign, which means right now Houston is off the bottom and sort of starting to head up a little bit, although certainly not at a growth trajectory that anybody is thrilled about.”

SurePayroll’s monthly Small Business Scorecard tracks data from the thirty-five largest U.S. metro areas. Orlando has seen the strongest growth in hiring for the year to date at more than 5%. Worst off is Sacramento, down 12%.